Talmud Diagrams

The Talmud, as the basic source of Jewish law and thought, continues to receive the attention of scholars and students from a wide age group. Study of the Talmud is complicated by its complex and involved legal arguments. Talmud Diagrams are designed to be easy to read graphical representations of the logic of the Talmud that aid its comprehension and retention. In particular, Talmud Diagrams are maps of legal opinions that consist of rulings on a set of related cases. Passages in the Talmud are represented by a series of Talmud Diagrams that portray the evolution of the legal opinions, challenges, and resolutions. The principle of a fortiori is embedded within the structure and formation rules of Talmud Diagrams, allowing the use of Talmud Diagrams to be extended to other legal systems where a fortiori applies.

Self-Inquiry and Group Dynamics

In this chapter, the authors discuss ways in which pedagogical considerations involved in using a theoretical framework for self-inquiry and socially constructed knowledge led to the selection and implementation of mapping as a tool to (1) activate prior knowledge and scaffold content and process for pre-service educators working with students and families who are at risk and (2) assist adult learners in organizing multiple perspectives during small and large group discussion, while developing critical thinking and shared leadership skills through meaningful connections and action. A case study on how the utilization of a multidisciplinary approach informed the type of curriculum decisions to engage learners is provided. The case study also illustrates when and why instructional techniques and strategies were introduced and embedded to encourage both interactions and discussions focusing on modeling the ongoing use of skills for critical thinking and how each mapping strategy/tool served as a formative and summative assessment plan to improve verbal and written communication.

Can Mapping Improve the Quality of Critical Thinking in Essay Writing in an Introductory Level, Core Curriculum Class?

This study began with the question: Can mapping improve the quality of critical thinking in essay writing in an introductory level, core curriculum class? Two sections of the course, Introduction to Communication, were compared, without mapping and with mapping. Dependent measures were: (1) the word count for summarizing the critical incident to be analyzed; (2) the number of concepts/theories employed to analyze the critical incident; (3) the number of times a connection was made between the analytical concepts/theories and the critical incident; (4) the number of words used in summarizing the essay as a whole; and (5) the total number of words in the essay. In addition, the data were analyzed for practice since there were three attempts at essay writing. Practice at writing the paper had an especial effect on writing and mapping had an especial effect on laying out the problem and applying analytical concepts to it.

Concept Maps and the Systematization of Knowledge

The act of doing research, reviewing recent literature, checking data, and articulating results and meanings are important but not enough when working with scientific publications in graduate schools. A vital part of the work is authoring an informative text that can be clear enough as to communicate findings of the study and, at the same time, reinforce chosen arguments. This chapter focuses on an experiment at a renowned Brazilian graduate school of education, which uses concept mapping and collective assessment of such maps as fundamental pre-writing stages to guide the authorship of well-thought, well-knit scientific/argumentative texts. Results indicate that the experiment was successful in making students negotiate meanings, clarify ideas and purposes, and write in an academically acceptable style. All this was conducted from a methodological standpoint that makes meaningful knowledge, collective construction, and the reflective, critical work of the author (from the first draft to the final collectively written version given), the foundations to perform a better job at communicating the processes and results of the investigative work.

Mapping the Doctorate

This chapter reports on the results of a four-year longitudinal study of PhD students and their supervisors, from which the evidence gained suggests that the students tend to focus on the PhD in terms of a product to be completed (in terms of writing a thesis and peer-reviewed journals), whilst the supervisors tend to concentrate more on the process of learning and scientific development, placing the student's contribution into the wider disciplinary discourse. The structural observations from the concept maps generated within this research are that the students perceive the PhD as a linear structure, whereas the supervisors are more likely to generate a cyclic structure to illustrate the dynamic, iterative processes of research more generally. Further structural elements emerge from the analysis of the maps, indicating the need for holistic understanding of the content, structure, and meanings in concept maps and their relationship with safe spaces for the development of critical thinking.

Making Sense of Intercultural Interaction

This chapter presents a visual sense-making activity in the field of intercultural communication. The activity is rooted in the literature that treats learning as a process of constructing meaning. The premise for this activity is that critical thinking depends on learning beyond memorizing discrete items. This perspective views learning for critical thinking as a process of integrating new knowledge into existing mental frameworks, which are then re-shaped in the learning process. The discussion begins with foundations in learning theory and their application to teaching intercultural communication. The description of the activity begins with the classroom setting and concludes with an appraisal of the activity in practice. Considerations of technology, curriculum design, and combining pedagogical strategies are included.

Confronting Critical Thinking Challenges “in” the College Classroom

The goal of this pilot study was to develop a learner-centered teaching tool that would promote meaningful learning and enable higher education instructors to model critical thinking through concept mapping. Learner-centered approaches emphasize not only content, but the context, purpose, and process of learning. They also focus on the need for students to take responsibility for their own learning. However, students may not possess the foundational critical thinking skills necessary to be independent learners. Concept mapping allows university instructors to demonstrate basic critical thinking processes and provides students with the opportunity to practice the critical thinking that is essential to their success inside and outside the classroom. It can also facilitate meaningful learning by encouraging students to integrate new knowledge into prior knowledge structures.

A Case on Teaching Critical Thinking and Argument Mapping in a Teacher Education Context

This chapter is based on the classroom work of a course on critical thinking designed as part of a pre-service teacher education program in English language teaching at a large-size Turkish state university. With its dual focus on both modernist and postmodern approaches to critical thinking, the course offers scope for classwork that concentrates on the skills to identify the parts and structure of arguments. To this end, argument mapping has been utilized to enhance understanding of the components of arguments and to facilitate the analysis of arguments. This chapter seeks to illustrate the materials and activities used when argument maps have been constructed during the class sessions. Furthermore, drawing from the data gathered from students' journal entries, I argue for a high interplay of the perceived efficacy of argument mapping with the content, length, and complexity of arguments as well as the anxiety evoked by these factors.

Critical Thinking and Writing Informational Texts in a Grade Three Classroom

In this chapter, the authors present a case study that explores grade three students' work with informational text over a month-long unit in order to document the students' developing thinking skills about text structures and features. Students were introduced to informational mentor texts to discover insight into expository text structures and create their own “All About…” books using their own background knowledge and interests. In writing their own informational texts, the students were encouraged to use a variety of visual representation formats such as lists, checklists, and diagrams. They also used common expository text structures found in informational trade books including description, sequence, and comparison. These structures provided an overall framework for students to organize their writing and use the skills of conceptualizing, applying, synthesizing, and evaluating their knowledge. One of the primary successes of the unit for developing students' critical thinking was the opportunity to teach others about an area of expertise. Scaffolding for student success in a variety of ways throughout the writing process was also important for student learning. Choosing mentor texts with text features and visuals that were desired in the students' finished pieces provided concrete examples for the class. Overall, the reading and writing of informational text was successful in promoting the development of important thinking skills that support students' need to critically evaluate information from a variety of sources.

Mapping Out Scientists' Messages

Funded by the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF), COSEE-Ocean Systems (OS) has employed concept mapping to facilitate collaboration and communication between ocean scientists and educators. Based on iterative feedback from and interaction with its participants, COSEE-OS has developed online concept mapping software linked to an ever-growing database with thousands of scientist-vetted resources, known as the Concept Linked Integrated Media Builder (CLIMB; cosee.umaine.edu/climb). Concomitant with the evolution of its CLIMB software functionality, COSEE-OS has transitioned from exclusively holding in-person concept mapping workshops to predominantly preparing for and delivering concept map-based webinar events, featuring ocean science researchers. This transition to webinars has greatly increased the number of participants and expanded the geographic reach from local to global. This chapter focuses on three key areas in which COSEE-OS has supported critical thinking: (1) the collaborative process of making meaningful learning by creating, analyzing, and improving concept maps with others; (2) facilitating subject-matter experts in the formulation of concept map-based presentations, which audiences can use to evaluate the validity of their connections and conclusions; and (3) the training of scientists to use concept mapping as a technique to more clearly delineate and explain how their research is tied to societally relevant issues. Three case descriptions on how COSEE-OS concept mapping facilitation and infrastructure have been applied to ocean sciences education efforts—both within the COSEE Network and beyond to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)—are also presented.